Most wine lovers who really care about what they are drinking are always on the lookout, ready and willing to try out new and exciting wines from new and interesting places.

Wine Bar Challenges

One of the main challenges with operating a wine bar or wine-themed restaurant in a small market such as ours is defining a clear and compelling unique selling proposition (USP) — why should the buying public choose your destination over the others?

The five common areas of focus are: Pleasant and curious staffing, excellent service, great ambience/location; fantastic food and amazing wines. While the proprietors of the business are usually very focused on the first four areas, sadly most leave the wine selection up to the importers/distributors. This leads to many of these wine destinations having the same wines on offer.

Whenever I visit a new establishment with an impressive wine list, one of the owners is usually a huge wine enthusiast. These proprietors tend to challenge their distributors to deliver above-average wines because they themselves understand and appreciate the differences.

Import Your Own

In order to fine-tune their USP, some wine-themed establishments have taken matters in their own hands, and are importing their own wines or have exclusive supply partnerships with importers. This is exactly what Cellar 8’s Chief Wine Guy Matthew Pragnell did recently with another wine he discovered on one of his many travels overseas when he tasted the Sean Minor Wines. He immediately reached out to the producer and after some spirited negotiations Cellar 8 added these new wines to its list.

The Sean Minor Tasting

Sean Minor founded Sean Minor Wines and Four Bears Winery in 2005 with a passion for producing wines of exceptional varietal characteristics and expressive terroir distinctiveness. A veteran of the wine industry with more than two decades of experience, Sean Minor’s fine wine career began with Beaulieu Vineyard (BV) in Napa Valley before taking an opportunity to manage Oregon’s King Estate Winery, and later accepting an appointment as president of Benton-Lane Winery. He returned to California to manage Renwood Winery before he and his wife Nicole decided to start their own wine company.

Several of Cellar 8’s customers came out to sample a few of the Sean Minor wines on offer.

Sean Minor Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, 2016

This Chardonnay is a light golden straw, with aromas of citrus, pear, and pineapple. This medium-bodied wine tastes crisp with flavours of pineapple; hints of green apple integrate well with a touch of minerality and a medium-bodied mouth feel. These flavours linger to provide a full and lengthy finish. This was my favourite wine of the tasting.

Point North Pinot Noir, Oregon, 2014

This hand-picked Pinot Noir was fruit-carefully blended from Willamette Valley and Umpqua Appellations of Oregon and aged in 100% French Oak – 20% New. Flavours of warm cherry pie mingle with earthy spice notes.

Sean Minor Nicole Marie Red Blend, North Coast, 2014

This wine is a blend of 50% Merlot, 25% Petite Sirah, 13% Petit Verdot and 12% Zinfandel. It is deep ruby in colour with aromas of ripe dark fruit, molasses and vanilla. On the palate, it is big, rich and spicy, offering flavours of dark cherry, plum and black pepper that integrate with hints of oak spices. The round soft tannins and sweet oak balance lead to a long and lingering finish.

Sean Minor Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 2015

This wine is a true Bordeaux-style blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, ıı% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, ı% Petit Verdot. It is ruby in colour with aromas of raspberry and cigar box. In the mouth this is a rich and full-bodied wine with blackberry fruit flavours and a combination of spice and oak with lingering soft tannin finish.

Sean Minor wines are the latest addition to the wine scene in Jamaica imported by a wine retailer to improve its unique selling proposition which I believe should be their wines.

Christopher Reckord — Information Technology Entrepreneur & Wine Enthusiast. Send your questions and comments to creckord@gmail.com. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram @chrisreckord and on Twitter: @Reckord